Gas burners are commonly used on the cooktops of household gas cooking appliances including e.g., range ovens and cooktop appliances built into cabinetry. For example, gas cooktops traditionally have at least one gas burner positioned at a cooktop surface for use in heating or cooking an object, such as a cooking utensil and its contents. Gas burners generally include an orifice that directs a flow of gaseous fuel into a fuel chamber. Between the orifice and the fuel chamber, the gaseous fuel entrains air, and the gaseous fuel and air mix within the fuel chamber before being ignited and discharged out of the fuel chamber through a plurality of flame ports.
Normally aspirated gas burners rely on the energy available in the form of pressure from the fuel supplied to the gas burner to entrain air for combustion. Because the nominal fuel pressure in households is relatively low, there is a practical limit to the amount of primary air a normally aspirated gas burner can entrain. Introducing a forced air supply (such as a fan or blower) into a gas burner assembly may increase the primary air supplied into the fuel chamber in a relatively quiet and cost effective manner. However, in the event that the forced air supply fails to provide sufficient primary air for any reason, a fuel-rich mixture may be combusted in the fuel chamber, thereby increasing the risk of carbon monoxide exposure. Thus, conventional fuel supply systems including such forced air supply systems often require costly or complicated flow sensors or flow sensing schemes for regulating operation in the event of component failures.
Accordingly, a cooktop appliance including an improved gas burner assembly with improved aeration would be desirable. More particularly, a fuel supply system for a gas burner assembly that increases the flow of primary air without requiring costly and complex fail-safe mechanisms would be particularly beneficial.